It would be a new tourist attraction in Cameron County, but it won't be the first time voters get the chance to make it a reality.

A proposed 10,000 seat arena project will be back on the ballot for voters in Cameron County after voters rejected it during the November 2021 elections by 55 votes.

“The first time we did it and a lot of people didn't know about it and a lot of people weren't informed,” Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. said.

Funding for most of the arena would come from working on master-planned Madeira community and grants and naming rights.

“What we're asking for is that the voters approve the use of the hotel, motel, rental car tax for this particular project,” Trevino Jr. said of the rest of the funding.

Some residents aren't happy about the proposal being back on the ballot.

Harlingen resident Minerva Simpson said the county shouldn't be picking municipalities for partly-private business.

“Using funds that are most likely allocated somewhere else already to fund a project that is in the city of Brownsville should be a city project, not a county project,” Simpson said.

Brownsville resident Javier Ibarra said he's excited at the thought of an arena close to home.

“An arena brings in money to the economy," Ibarra said. “I like that, and it's gonna help the community, and we don't have to pay anything? Then I'm all for it."

The Cameron County Commissioner’s Court is planning to add the arena on the ballot later this year.